Below is a SAMPLE
from the beginning of my
SOON to be PUBLISHED
young teen book:
DOWN-UNDER CALLING
( Grandma Rose Spins a Web )
by
Margot
Finke
A tale of two generations divided by an ocean.
Andy, a grandson in Oregon, more interested in his own problems, than
in writing to a grandma he hardly remembers.
Where the Pacific Ocean laps at the Oregon shore.
Rose Larkin, a grandma in Queensland, Australia, who misses her
daughter and grandson. A lady with love to give
and memories to share.
The path behind Rose Larkin's house that leads to the bush.
Both have something special the other needs.
They just need to discover what it is.
***********
CHAPTER ONE
Grandma Rose
On the other
side of the Pacific Ocean, where water lapped the sandy eastern shores of
Australia, Rose Larkin slept. She lived on the edge of the Queensland bush in a
small town called Morningside. At sixty plus Rose was a light sleeper, so the
sound of the rifle crack snapped her awake.
Silence. This
was followed by the mutter of distant voices. Rose’s cat, Lady,
sleeping at the foot of her bed, had not twitched a whisker.
“The same
hooligans again I’ll bet,” she muttered, “Shooting at whatever moves!”
Stiff from
sleeping, Rose threw on a dressing gown and headed for the back door. Outside
the door she grabbed the long handled garden fork that leaned against the wall.
She hefted it. Not a bad weapon – just in case.
A skimpy moon
left the back yard in complete darkness. But Rose didn’t need a flashlight. Her
feet had long ago memorized every pebble, dip, and curve that lead to the back
fence. The voices now grew more distinct.
“Cripes mate, I
killed somethin’!”
“Dumb git! I
think you offed a roo. The old biddy’s heard us for sure. Let’s scarper!” The voices
faded, lost in the far reaches of the wild bush area that backed onto Rose’s
property.
Grim-faced, Rose
reached the fence line. Soft scrabbling noises came from the bush side of the
fence. Leaning the garden fork against a fence post she hiked up her nightie
and dressing gown. Climbing over the broken section of the fence wasn’t easy.
Rose struggled. Then came a tearing sound. Blast! My favorite nightie too!
Finally, she made it over the fence and into
the bush, hoping to find whatever was making those distressed rustling sounds. Aha... She peered down at the ground around
her – dim and blurry. Stupid woman - forgot
my glasses! Her
toe hit something furry. Kneeling in the darkness Rose searched the ground with
outstretched hands. She felt something warm, sticky and soft. Oh Lord, NO!
In front of her lay a still warm but very
dead female kangaroo. Snuggled beside his dead mum, yet very much alive, was
her joey. “There, there,” murmured Rose. “Not to worry little mate. You'll come
with me.”
It took a few more rips and tears to her
nightie, but she finally got the joey over the fence and safely back to the
house. Tucking him into a spare pillowcase, Rose hung the makeshift pouch on
the back of a kitchen chair. The joey’s small head peeked out, all big ears and
long snout, a wistful look on its face. The pillowcase, loosely knotted at the
open end, was the best she could do to provide a pouch.
Oh-ho, he’s shivering. Mustn’t let the little bloke go into shock. Rose quickly filled a hot water bottle and slipped it into the
pillowcase. A quick look through her winter woolies, and joey wore a
blue beanie scrunched down over his ears - one she had knitted last winter.
“That’ll have to do for now. First thing in
the morning I’ll find out what to feed you. Then I’ll phone the police. I just
hope they catch the hooligans that killed your poor mum.”
Rose, chilled to the toenails, made herself a
steaming cup of tea. The creature, blue beanie askew over one eye, ducked
inside the makeshift pouch every time she ventured near.
“You just hold on ‘till I get you the right
food, little mate.” Rose yawned and said, “Whoever said older people needed
less sleep was nuts. I’m a bit
long-in-the tooth to be hopping fences
. . . and in the middle of the night too!” She looked at the bulge at the bottom of the
pillowcase. If she moved the chair into her bedroom, she might disturb him.
What to do?
Dawn woke Rose to a raft of new aches and
pains. These were mostly due to napping away the remainder of the night in an
armchair close to her young guest. A hot shower helped, plus two aspirin.
Several phone calls later, she had operation “save joey” well under way. The
police promised to investigate, and the Lone Pine Wildlife Sanctuary had been
most helpful. They gave her great information about joey care and joey food.
However, it seemed they wanted her to look after the little bloke until one of
their staff could come and take him off her hands.
“No problem,” Rose assured the nice lady from
Lone Pine. “He’ll be jake with me.”
Bright and early, on advice from the Lone
Pine lady, she took joey to visit her veterinarian. The Vet checked him out
thoroughly and pronounced him fit-as-a-fiddle. He handed her a bottle and teat,
plus a package of Kangaroo Milk Replacer.
“Just the ticket for a beaut young joey,” he
told Rose. ”It’s a completely balanced diet. Easy to use, too.” He patted the
young roo’s head and added, “Kangaroo milk comes in four strengths, for
different stages of growth. Oh, and don’t forget to let
him hop about a bit after you feed him, because he’ll need to poop and
pee.” As she left, with the joey safely tucked into
his pillowcase, the vet called, “Don’t worry, Rose, I’ve plenty more milk if
you need it.”
The tiny ‘roo slept all the way home inside
his makeshift pouch on the front seat. Rose smiled as she drove. Hmmm. . .
Car travel seems to sooth animal babies as well as human babies.
Once home she put some of the kangaroo milk
into a bottle, warmed it, and then took joey out into the garden. No more
shivers, so she removed the hot water bottle. The beanie had disappeared, lost
in the depths of the pillowcase.
Joey snuggled on Rose’s lap, still mostly
inside the pillowcase, with only his head and two tiny front paws out in the
open. He sucked like a trooper, both front paws clutching the bottle. After he
finished drinking, Rose rubbed his tummy like the Vet said. He looked at Rose, twitched his nose, and
then slid down into his pillow case pouch. A soft burp followed.
“Oh, no you don’t,” cried Rose. She grabbed
the pillowcase full of soon to be pooping-and-peeing joey,’ and hurried to the
laundry. “I’m too old to
chase you around the yard,” she told him. Closing the door she gently pulled the baby ‘roo out of hiding, and
put him on the cement floor. ”Pillowcase pouches don’t have bathroom
facilities, mate – understand? Cement floors can be hosed down.”
He took a few tentative hops, and then looked
up at her, head cocked to one side.
“You want me to turn my back?” asked Rose.
Chuckling, she told him, ”I imagine my grandson Andy would be bug-eyed over a
little bloke like you.”
A few hops later, and joey attended to
business. Rose dealt with the cleanup while the perpetrator hopped around the
laundry.
“Right-o little mate, time for a nap.” Two sleepy
eyes blinked up at her while she smoothed the fur on his head. Scooping him up,
she slid him into his pillowcase pouch. Joey folded himself into a ball at the
bottom of the pillowcase, and slept.
Rose carried him outside. She hung his pouch
on the back of her garden chair, and hurried to see if the mail man had brought
anything worth reading. “A-hah, what have we here?” she peered at the
sender’s label. “Well, blow me down, a letter from my grandson, Andy.” Pleased
and happy, she went to her chair, ripped open the envelope, and read his
letter.
55-A Pine Meadows Way
Portland OR USA
Dear Grandma,
Mom
said I should write, so here it is. I'm twelve years old. I'm in sixth grade. I
have a friend called Kelly. She’s in sixth grade too. I'm real good at math and
computers. But I don't much like reading, and English is boring.
My friend Kelly has twice as many
computer games as me. I asked Dad for another music CD, but he said no. He said
I have enough e-junk and computer games. Dad’s way tight-fisted.
That's about all.
Your grandson,
Andy.
**********************
Other
SAMPLES
From
"Down-Under Calling"
will appear here
again soon.
THE COVER
( by Awesome Agy Wilson )
Is also coming ASAP!
I would love to read
your comments
. . . or opinions
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Books for Kids - written with a WOW factor!
Manuscript Critiques - fluff up your pillows not your paragraphs
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